Card feeding mechanism



- June 25, 1946.

E. s. RICE ETAL CARD FEEDING MECHANISM Filed April 25, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 @mvsmoas E1A RL S RICEAND OTTO E. KASE },LZJ1;L7

TOE

ATTORNEY FIG. 2

June 25, 1946. E. 5. RICE ETAL 2,402,774

CARD FEEDING MECHANISM Filed April 25, 1945 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A mvzmons EARL $.RlCEAN0 OTTO E. KASE BY j/L L ATTORNEY June 25, 1946. v s, E ETAL 2,402,774

CARD FEEDING MECHANISM Fild April 25, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.3

/32 IS IS INVENTORS EARL 5. RICE AND OTTO E. KASi-I ATTO RN EY June 25,1946. 5, 5, RICE ETAL 2,402,774

CARD FEEDING MECHANISM med April 25, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG.4

FIG. 5

VENTORS EA $.RICE AND OTTO E. KASE B-Y JLA ATTORNEY Patented June 25, 1946 CARD FEEDING MECHANISM Earl S. Rice, Fanwood, N. J., and Otto E. Kase, Valley Stream, N. Y., assignors to Remington Rand Ina, Buffalo, N. Y., a'corporation of Delaware Application April 25, 1945, Serial No. 590,288

9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to feeding mechanisms, and more particularly to devices having picker means for consecutively separating substantially flat and firm smooth surfaced units of relative and uniform thinness, such as punched cards or the like, from a plurality of such units prearranged in stack form, and moving said units to an advanced position wherein they can be engaged for further operations in connection therewith singly and apart from said remaining plurality of such units.

Heretofore it has been found that unless the units being fed in the above mentioned manner presented absolutely flat and unmarred surfaces, there arose a possibility that the feed would be disrupted by the picker blade becoming disengaged from the edge of the unit being fed while that unit was still in a position within the feed throat opening, and before the leading edge thereof had advanced a sufficient distance to be engaged and picked up by the usual feed rollers. Consequently, such an occurrence amounted to a blocking of the throat opening which, upon the succeeding stroke of the picker blade, prevented passage of the succeeding unit causing a feed jam with the resultant loss of operating time, destruction of the units so involved, and other attendant inconveniences. The object of this invention is to improve feeding mechanisms by preventing jamming arising from slight irregularities in the contour of the units being fed.

This object is achieved through the provision of auxiliary yieldable picker blades adapted to catch the edge of a unit in the event it should become disengaged from the fixed picker blade during the course of its rearward feeding stroke. Said auxiliary picker blades are slidably mounted on the reciprocating feed table adjacent to each end of the fixed picker blade, and through the initial movement of the feed stroke they are held disabled by cam means. Soon after the beginning of the stroke, and after the lowermost unit in the magazine has been engaged and started rearwardly by the fixed picker blade, said auxiliary picker blades become enabled and are yieldably urged upwards slightly in front of the trailing edge of the advancing unit making contact with and sliding upon the bottom surface of the lowermost unit retained in the magazine. If for any reason the advancing unit should slip out of engagement with the fixed picker blade, said trailing auxiliary blades will be in position to catch its trailing edge and continue to advance it to the position in which it can be picked up by the feed rolls in the usual manner.

Although various means have heretofore been employed to provide a yieldable picker mechanism which bears upon the surface of a succeeding unit throughout its effective stroke, advantages are gained by the present device from the novel combined action of the two types of picker mechanisms, the fixed picker blade adjustably disposed along a substantially wide longitudinal area for positively engaging only one unit per stroke, the auxiliary picker blades effectively assuring that the one unit so engaged will be positively propelled the full length of the feed stroke.

The mechanism as disclosed herein is an embodiment particularly adapted for feeding punched cards to card controlled business machines such as, for example, the well known Powers type tabulator shown in Patent 2,044,119 to W. W. Lasker, issued June 16, 1936, though it should be understood that the embodiment herein disclosed could be utilized equally effectively with other types of card operated machines.

A clearer concept of the invention and additional objects and advantages therein apparent may be had from the following description with reference to the drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of the card magazine and associated mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same partly broken away to disclose features of the invention;

Fig, 3 is a sectional view along line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the picker blades under conditions shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along line 5-5 of Fig, 2 at the middle of the feed stroke when operating with normal cards;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the picker blades under conditions shown in Fig. '7;

Fig. 7 is a view of the same section as shown in Fig. 5, but when operating with warped cards; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of an auxiliary picker blade and related structure.

The invention as disclosed herein is adapted for use with a card operated business machine as above mentioned, having the usual card magazine defined by a left and right hand end casting l and 2 respectively (Figs. 1, 2, and 3), each having vertically extending walls bent at right angles at both ends thereof to conform to the four corners of the stacked cards I9 encompassed thereby, and each firmly secured to a substantially rectangular frame casting 4 secured to the front of the machine. A cross plate 3 extending between the two rear ends of the end castings l and 2 has mounted thereon supporting structure for a vertically disposed throat knife 22, hereinafter more fully described, which extends lower than the respective card retaining flanges on the end castings to maintain contact with the rear edges of all but the bottom card in the magazine.

A reciprocable feed table 5 functions as the bottom surface of the magazine, and is guided for front to rear reciprocable motion by arms 9 extending into horizontal slots provided in the upper surface of frame 4, vertical displacement therefrom being prevented by the overlapping base of end castings I and 2. Rearward projecting card support fingers 6 are secured to the upper surface of the table for supporting the ends of the card being fed, and a forwardly extending card support tray 1 is also secured to the upper surface of the table to furnish support for the card stack while the table is in' its rearward position. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the underside of the table is formed with a pair of parallel projecting lugs l0. Reciprocable movement is imparted to the table through a link l2 pivoted at one end to lugs ID by pin H and at the other end to a rock arm l3 fast on a power driven rock shaft l4. Feed rolls l5 and "5 are mounted on feed roll shafts I! and I8, respectively directly'behind the magazine, and are adapted to engage the card being fed by the table and propel it to a position where it can be operated upon singly in other of the machine operations.

A throat block 20 of the usual type secured to frame 4 and acting in cooperation with the throat knife 22 gives positive assurance that not more than one card will be fed to the rollers on a single stroke of the feed table. The upper surface of the throat block 23 has a slight rearward incline to assure that the rearward edge of the bottom card be in contact with the block at the time the said edge passes the knife. The knife is slidably mounted in a milled out groove in a guide block 23 secured to cross plate 3, its upper end being bent over to form an car which is perforated to encompass a shouldered guide pin 29 adjustably threaded into block 23. A bail link 24 underlies which acts to retain the knife 22 in its most depressed or normal operating position. The construction is such that with the parts in normal position as shown, the throat knife is positively held in its adjusted position to permit passage of the bottorn'card between it and the throat block forming the top surface of that section of the feed table to which the blade is secured with a slight forward incline, thus assuring that the forward edge of the bottom card will make contact with the top surface of the table, particularly in instances where a warp or bend in said 1 card might otherwise keep its forward edge raised off from the table and above the range of the picker blade 32. Adjustment of the blade in accordance with the thickness of the card is eifected by adjusting screws 33 threaded into lugs 8 proiectin'g from the table, the heads of which screws engage slots cutout of the blade. Adjacent to 'each end of said picker blade, as best seen in Fig. 8, there is slidably mounted on the forward surface of table 5 auxiliary picker blades 34.-

Said auxiliary picker blades are'guided for substantially vertical movement on their inner sides by the endsof fixed picker blade 32, on their outer sides by guide blocks 38, secured to the table 5,

on their rearward sidesby the forward surface.

its

4 of table 5 and on their forward sides by the overlapping arm of retaining plates 40 secured to the fixed picker knife 32.

Springs 42 (see also Figs. 5 and '7) stretched between pins 4| projecting rearwardly from the auxiliary pickers, and hooks 43 secured to the underside of table 5, act to urge the picker blades upward to their effective card picking position. Stop shoulders 44 (see also Fig. 8) on the inner side of each auxiliary picker blade limit the extent of upward movement by engagement with I a bent under ear of retaining plate 40, when not otherwise limited, such as by the presence of a card retained in the magazine, and cam shoulders 35 on the outer side of each picker knife 34 serve to hold the pickers in their lower ineffective picking position when engaged by rearwardly extending stationary cam fingers 36, adjustably secured to brackets 31 aifixed to the underside of the frame 4.

The construction and arrangement is such that, when the feed table 5 is in its most forward position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the auxiliary picker blades 34 are held in depressed position by cam fingers 36 with their upper picking edge 45 below the upper surface of table 5, i. e., in an ineffective or disabled position. However, shortly after the start of the rearward feeding stroke, the shoulders 35 start riding off the cam fingers 35 permitting the blades to rise until their upper surfaces strike the bottom surface of the next succeeding card in the magazine, and maintaining said raised position throughout the remainder of the rearward feeding stroke. It will 5 be noted that the picking edges45 of the auxiliary picker blades 34 are slightly recessed'from their rear bearing surfaces. This feature is provided to insure that the blades Will rise fully to contact and bear upon the succeeding card, especially in instances where a damaged edge or slight misalignment of the bottom card being fed might otherwise prevent such contact.

From the foregoing it will be percelvedthat in normal operations when the cards l9 are substantially flat without irregularities in their edges or surfaces as in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the bottom card is positively engaged singly and apart from the remaining cards and positively fed to the feed rolls l5, I6, by the fixed picker blade 32,

, and the raised auxiliary picker blades 34 are not instrumental in propelling the card under such conditions. However, under unavoidable abnormal conditions, such as the presence in the card stack of one or more damaged or warped cards (Figs. 6 and 7), the normal tendency of the bottom card to adhere to and follow the contour of the next succeeding card throughout the feed stroke raises the forward edge of the card above the range of the fixed picker blade,resulting in its disengagement from the fixed picker blade before completion of the feed stroke. Under such abnormal conditions, the rising of the auxiliary picker blades 34 to bear upon the bottom surface of the succeeding card, and to follow whatever contour said cards surface may have, is effective to engage the trailing edge of the bottom card when said card becomes disengaged, as aforementioned, from the fixed picker blade. Accordingly, in such eventthe auxiliary picker blades will continue t positively propel saidcard rearwardly throughout the remainder of the feed stroke to where it can be picked up by the feed rolls l5 and IS, in the usual manner.

It will be noted that the auxiliary picker blades 34, when engaging a card, bear against the entire thickness of that cards forward edge, and that their yieldable movement is restricted to within a substantially vertical plane. This arrangement provides them with positive card propelling effect, and resistance of the card to rearward movement cannot result in their yielding to a depressed or ineffective position. Near the end of the return stroke of the feed table 5, the auxiliary picker blades are disabled through depression by cam fingers 36 in order to prevent their engaging, at the beginning of the following feed stroke, cards other than the one succeeding card singly engageable by the finely adjustable fixed picker knife 32, as previously described.

It is, of course, recognized that an irregularity in the shape or condition of the cards, which would result in a cards disengagement from the fixed picker blade 32 during the feeding stroke, may assume forms other than that shown in Figs. 6 and 7. For example, the warp might be of a different contour than as shown, the cards surface might present a crease resulting from an unintentional bending, the edge of the card being fed within the area engageable by the picker blade may be mutilated, or other irregularities might be present. Accordingly, it should be understood that the operation of the auxiliary pickers is equally effective to maintain card feed upon disengagement of the card from the fixed picker blade irrespective of the particular condition of irregularity causing such disengagement.

While we have described what we consider to be a highly desirable embodiment of our invention, it is obvious that many changes in form could be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, and we, therefore, do not limit ourselves to the exact form herein shown and described, nor to anything less than the whole of our invention as hereinbefore set forth, and as hereinafter claimed.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A mechanism for feeding successively single thin fiat units from a plurality of such units comprising withholding means for successively retaining all but one of said plurality of units in stack form, reciprocable means for successively advancing from said plurality of units the unit not so retained, said reciprocable means including fixed means for positively engaging an edge of said unit not so retained and advancing the same, and auxiliary means for positively engaging and advancing the same edge of said unit upon failure of complete advance thereof by said fixed means.

2. A mechanism for feeding successively single thin fiat units from a plurality of such units comprising withholding means for successively retaining all but one of said plurality of units in stack form, reciprocable means for successively advancing from said plurality of units the unit not so retained, said reciprocable means including a picker blade fixedly mounted thereon to engage the edge of said unit not so retained and auxiliary picker blades yieldably mounted thereon to bear on the surface of a unit retained by said withholding means.

3. In a feeding mechanism the combination of fixedly mounted picker means for positively engaging the edge of one unit to be fed and advancing the same, and auxiliary picker means yieldably mounted to bear on the surface of an ad- Jacent unit for positively engaging and continuing to advance said unit upon failure of the complete advance thereof by said fixedly mounted picker means.

4. In a feeding mechanism of the class described the combination with a reciprocating member for successively advancing a single unit from a plurality of such units prearranged in stack form, including fixed picker means adjustably mounted thereon to engage said units adjacent edge, of initially disabled auxiliary picker means yieldably mounted thereon to engage the full thickness of said units adjacent edge upon said units accidental disengagement from said fixed picker means.

5. In a feeding mechanism the combination with fixedly mounted picker means for positively engaging one unit to be fed and advancing the same, of auxiliary yieldably mounted picker means for positively engaging and continuing to advance said unit upon failure of the complete advance thereof by said fixedly mounted picker means, and cam means for disabling said auxiliary picker means before and during the initial advance of said unit by said fixedly mounted picker means.

6. In a feeding mechanism the combination with a magazine, a reciprocable feed table, a picker blade fixedly mounted on said feed table, of auxiliary picker blades yieldably mounted on said feed table and stationary cams for initially disabling said auxiliary picker blades.

7. In a card operated machine the combination with a card magazine provided with a throat knife for successively retaining all but one of a plurality of cards in stack form within said magazine, a reciprocable feed table provided with a fixed picker blade for successively engaging and advancing the one card not so retained, and power driven means for reciprocating said feed table, of auxiliary picker blades yieldably mounted on said feed table to bear upon the bottom surface of a card so retained within said magazine, and stationary cams for disabling said auxiliary picker blades when positioned by said reciprocable feed table beyond the edge of said card so retained.

8. A mechanism for feeding warped or bent cards, comprising the combination with a card magazine, a throat knife, a reciprocable feed table, and a picker blade fixedly mounted on said table, of auxiliary picker blades mounted on said feed table and yieldably urged to bear against the bottom surface of a card retained by said throat knife in said magazine, and stationary cams adapted to disable said auxiliary picker blades when positioned by said reciprocable feed table beyond the edge of said card so retained.

9. A mechanism for feeding damaged cards comprising the combination with a card magazine, a throat knife, a reciprocable feed table, and a fixed picker blade adjustably mounted thereon to engage and advance one of a plurality of said cards by contact with its adjacent edge, of auxiliary picker blades yieldably mounted thereon to engage and advance said one card by contact with the full thickness of said cards adjacent edge upon its accidental disengagement from said fixed picker blades, and stationary cams to disable said auxiliary picker blades during the initial card engaging action of said fixed picker blade.

EARL S. RICE. O'I'IO E. KASE. 

